Mina Gomberg with her husband Arnold Gomberg

My husband Arnold Gomberg and I on our 40th wedding anniversary at a restaurant in Kiev, at the end of 1999. I met Arnold at my friend's wedding in one of the Kiev restaurants. We got married in 1959. Our first son, Vadim, was born in 1960 and our second son, Valery in 1972. Our children were not raised Jewish, but we didn't let them forget that they were Jews either. We always followed the events in Israel. We bought my father a radio and gave it to a repairman to adjust it so that we could receive short waves to listen to Western stations. Western radio broadcasts were jammed most of the time, but we managed to put together what we could hear. In 1967, during the Six-Day-War in Israel, we were almost glued to our radio to follow the events there. We have a visa for Germany and we plan to move there before 2003. My older son and his wife will be going with us. We decided to go to Germany, because my husband speaks fluent Yiddish and can understand German very well. We wouldn't be able to learn Hebrew. Besides, he had two heart attacks, and he can't stand the heat; it's too hot there. We can't stay in Ukraine either. My husband closed his shop due to his condition and I am a pensioner: We receive $50 USD pension between the two of us. We can't make ends meet with so little money. Besides, my husband needs a heart surgery. It costs $3,000 USD in Ukraine. We don't have such big amounts of money. These are the reasons why we decided to move to another country. Germany accepts Jews now. Many of our friends have moved there already. They receive welfare and free medical assistance and reside in comfortable apartments. We are glad that Jewish life has been restored in Ukraine. We don't need to hide our Jewish identity now. We attend Jewish concerts and performances. Hesed supports us, providing packaged food and medications.